I

116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 676
To reiterate the support of the Congress of the United States for the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 17, 2019
Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. BACON, Mr. HURD of
Texas, Mr. UPTON, Mr. KINZINGER, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. SPANBERGER,
Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. GALLAGHER, and Mr. ENGEL) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

A BILL
To reiterate the support of the Congress of the United States
for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and for
other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NATO Support Act’’.

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

6 Congress finds that:

7 (1) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
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8 (NATO), which came into being through the North

9 Atlantic Treaty, which entered into force on April 4,

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1 1949, between the United States of America and the
2 other founding members of the North Atlantic Trea-
3 ty Organization, has served as a pillar of inter-
4 national peace and stability, a critical component of
5 United States security, and a deterrent against ad-
6 versaries and external threats.
7 (2) The House of Representatives affirmed in
8 H. Res. 397, on June 27, 2017, that—
9 (A) NATO is one of the most successful
10 military alliances in history, deterring the out-
11 break of another world war, protecting the ter-
12 ritorial integrity of its members, and seeing the
13 Cold War through to a peaceful conclusion;
14 (B) NATO remains the foundation of
15 United States foreign policy to promote a Eu-
16 rope that is whole, free, and at peace;
17 (C) the United States is solemnly com-
18 mitted to the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza-
19 tion’s principle of collective defense as enumer-
20 ated in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty;
21 and
22 (D) the House of Representatives—
23 (i) strongly supports the decision at
24 the NATO Wales Summit in 2014 that
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25 each alliance member would aim to spend

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1 at least 2 percent of its nation’s gross do-
2 mestic product on defense by 2024;
3 (ii) condemns any threat to the sov-
4 ereignty, territorial integrity, freedom and
5 democracy of any NATO ally; and
6 (iii) welcomes the Republic of Monte-
7 negro as the 29th member of the NATO
8 Alliance.
9 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

10 It is the sense of Congress that—

11 (1) the President shall not withdraw the United
12 States from NATO; and
13 (2) the case Goldwater v. Carter is not control-
14 ling legal precedent with respect to the withdrawal
15 of the United States from a treaty.
16 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

17 It is the policy of the United States—

18 (1) to remain a member in good standing of
19 NATO;
20 (2) to reject any efforts to withdraw the United
21 States from NATO, or to indirectly withdraw from
22 NATO by condemning or reducing contributions to
23 NATO structures, activities, or operations, in a
24 manner that creates a de facto withdrawal;
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1 (3) to continue to work with NATO members to
2 meet their 2014 Wales Defense Investment Pledge
3 commitments; and
4 (4) to support robust United States funding for
5 the European Deterrence Initiative, which increases
6 the ability of the United States and its allies to
7 deter and defend against Russian aggression.
8 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF FUNDS TO WITH-

9 DRAW FROM NATO.

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds

11 are authorized to be appropriated, obligated, or expended
12 to take any action to withdraw the United States from
13 the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, DC on
14 April 4, 1949, between the United States of America and
15 the other founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty
16 Organization.
Æ
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